Directions: Look over the example "short" below, a brief summary by a 2010 student summarizing a social and cultural experience of his classmate, Norlela Othman, from Malaysia. Your short should be about 150 words. You can choose the style: a short essay, summary, reflection, poem, or other paper based on an interview with someone, or your notes about the book you chose to read this semester or maybe practicing the writing concepts and topics we will be working on throughout the semester in class. You might want to start another writing journal keeping track of our writing and discussion during class time and also about your process drafting for your "shorts" or essays. Don't type your final-draft short paper onto this page. Instead post it on the discussion bubble you can see at the top of this particular page so that you and your classmates can easily look over everyone's short papers.
Dorm Life is Better I interviewed my classmate Norlela Othman from Malaysia about a cultural experience she had gone through in the United States. It's interesting to me that she believes dorm life would have been better for her when she came to college. First, she said that she lived with three girls from her own country, Malaysia. As a result, she found that her conversational English didn't improve a lot because she spoke Malay most of the time. Moreover, she took exactly the same classes from her roommates, so she did not have a chance to meet or study with students from other countries or with Americans. Because she didn't meet many Americans, she did not learn very much about American culture. She didn't celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas. Finally, she did not share many fun experiences with people. She didn't attend parties or go skiing or even spend leisure time in the Student Center. So although her life during her first year of college was secure and pleasant, if she could change one thing, she would have chosen to live in the dormitory because she noticed that students seemed to have a much more interesting and fun time living on campus.
I interviewed my classmate Norlela Othman from Malaysia about a cultural experience she had gone through in the United States. It's interesting to me that she believes dorm life would have been better for her when she came to college. First, she said that she lived with three girls from her own country, Malaysia. As a result, she found that her conversational English didn't improve a lot because she spoke Malay most of the time. Moreover, she took exactly the same classes from her roommates, so she did not have a chance to meet or study with students from other countries or with Americans. Because she didn't meet many Americans, she did not learn very much about American culture. She didn't celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas. Finally, she did not share many fun experiences with people. She didn't attend parties or go skiing or even spend leisure time in the Student Center. So although her life during her first year of college was secure and pleasant, if she could change one thing, she would have chosen to live in the dormitory because she noticed that students seemed to have a much more interesting and fun time living on campus.
--Kelly Cobb, U.S.